My crazy, yet enjoyable, fit life

“I Mean What Would You Call What You Do?”

During a phone call with my sister-in-law this week, she jokingly asked, “I mean what would you call what you do?” She was referencing my occupation. I was kind of caught of guard and didn’t really know how to respond. I do a lot of things, and I’m not really sure that just one of those things defines me. I am currently still an active CPA, now personal trainer, instructor at Flywheel, full time mom and fitness/lifestyle blogger. When I had my second daughter, I could never have imagined where I would be just four months out. That said, I feel so fortunate to finally be doing the things that I feel so passionate about. Nothing feels better than people telling me they do the workouts that I post on my blogs, they make my recipes and most importantly that they trust me with training them.

I have been teaching at Flywheel since 2012. Wow, 3 years – 2 kids. I am so glad that I have stuck with it. I truly love being on the bike as an instructor and I feel fortunate that I have met so many amazing friends and now family through such a great gym. As impersonal as sitting on a bike in the dark may seem, the friendships that have been built in that small space are incredible.

By default, my kids have joined the #FlyFam – oftentimes stopping by the studio to see me, pick me up and buy new baby apparel. This month, I joined the SmartCore team and I am now leading bootcamps every Saturday at 10 AM. This I LOVE. I embrace talking to people face to face. Hearing their issues. Helping them modify. Finding ways to help everyone just move. Sweat. Get that good sore feeling. Denise Duffy and Steve Justice have built an incredible environment for working out. In just a few short weeks, I have absorbed so much information. Being around them and just exchanging ideas is literally fun.

I am in a transition period truly. I can’t define myself. I am building a solid foundation to move on to the next phase of my life – fitness. Change. Motivating people to be the best version of themselves that they can be. Strong is so powerful. While I will continue my blog, I will be reaching out in other forms of social media to just get my name out there. Saturday, July 25th, I will be doing an Instagram takeover of the @WeLoveCLT account. Follow me! Saturday is one of the biggest long workouts days in the city of Charlotte. It is also the conclusion of 24 Hours of Booty. I can’t wait to walk followers through all of the activity going on through my eyes on a typical Saturday. It is really incredible how active people in Charlotte are.

My clients motivate me every day. I want to be the best for them every time that I teach, train or just get together with them to chat. With just a month until my Super Spartan Race, I am continuing to improvise my own workouts to meet the expectations that I have set for the obstacle race. See my week below. While it was very similar to last week, I did tweak some things. As the race gets closer, I will start to taper off and rest my body.

I have said it once, I will say it again. I actually completed the bootcamp that I will be running on Saturday as my workout. Total time – 58 minutes. It says a lot about the workout if I am legitimately doing it as a key piece of my own training. I am not just throwing something together that I don’t respect enough to make it a valid piece of training for anyone. This workout is a combination of cardio, brute strength and core exercises. It hits those little muscles that you don’t hit from just doing some of the isolated exercises listed above. There is thought put in here. I am working on maximal burnout through total body movements. I already know that these exercises will make the Spartan Race seem easier. Again, I can’t just post the workout! You have to come check it out.

Wednesday – Cardio/Running

Two solid strength days are followed up with a running day. My legs (specifically my glutes) were very sore after my Tuesday workout. I had to take the running easy. Has anyone ever told you to listen to your body?

Get it. We are running here. Every half mile, we are doing an exercise. Stop – Go. It’s how that Spartan Race works. It’s how to drive your heart rate up on a seemingly normal boring run.

Run 1/2 mile.

30 Sit Ups – Sit ups. SIT UPS. No crunches.

Run 1/2 mile.

15 Leg Raises

Run 1/2 mile.

20 Pushups

Run 1/2 mile.

10 Burpees – Yes, I was panting after these.

Repeat as many times as you need to. I clearly repeated 2.5 times. I was short on time. That’s okay. The most important part is that I got some solid mileage in and practiced that stop-go exercise. Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty. That’s what obstacle races are all about. Stop on a sidewalk, patch of grass, you name it. Don’t be afraid to get a little muddy.

Thursday – Double Time Flywheel – Run to Pick Up Car

Rocking classes. New and old faces. Loved it. I use this day as a straight up cardio day. As I have said before, this is a great cross training workout for me. Resistance training on the bike builds my leg strength and the flats definitely work on my turnover. Playlist below.

I didn’t intend to do anything else exercise wise on Thursday. However, when I walked out to my car prior to heading to Flywheel I noticed that I had a flat tire. Good thing I leave for class early. I was able to drop my car off and get to class on time. Phew. Later on that day, I ran to the place that my car was being worked on with my child in tow in the jogger. It’s mom strength. I hate to ask for help. Enough Said.

I got three miles in over fifty-five minutes. While I was feeding my daughter at 4 AM, I jotted down the workout that I would do. Hey, if I don’t go in with a plan, I usually end up just dilly dallying.

Run 1 lap around block – approximately 1/2 mile.

Carry bucket of rocks around the block – See picture below. It took me forever. It’s 50 pounds. It’s awkward. I had to put it down and pick it up. It was dark. There is a reason why I did this exercise first.

Perform the following set of exercises sequentially:

10 Burpees

10 Push ups

5 Burpee Pull ups

3 Burpee Pull ups to Knee Raise

Squat Extension with Sand Bag – see picture below. This will work your grip and strength. The bag is approximately 40 pounds.

Bicep Curl with Sandbag x20

Step Up with Sandbag x10 each leg (hold sandbag on the shoulder of leg that is stepping up)

Side Bend x20 each side

Touch toes to Pull Up Bar x5

Grip movements (narrow, wide, front) x5

Run 1 lap around block.

Walk around block with Sandbag.

Repeat set of exercises.

Run 1 lap around block.

So hard, but this workout left me feeling super strong. Again, confident in the upcoming race.

I am taking every day one day at a time. I am building a solid foundation both physically (for my race) and mentally (for my future). Fitness is my passion, and I hope that I make that apparent to each person that I interact with. The best part about my new transition is my ability to spend more time with my children. They are growing up too fast. It seems like yesterday, my oldest daughter was learning to sit in a high chair. Now she is in a booster seat, working on her lap top and coloring and breakfast. Time will not slow down!